I am in desparate search for any song by a band appreciated by 18-year-olds (REM, BLoc Party, Springsteen, RHCP, E. Smith, Shins...) which deals with any kind of environmental problems. Maybe some of you could help me. Thanks a lot!

The new Sarah Harmer album, "I'm a Mountain", has a great song called "Escarpment Blues", about the destruction of the beautiful and environmentally sensitive Niagara Escarpment that runs through Ontario.

How about Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi", with it's indelible chorus "They paved paradise, and put up a parking lot", and lyrics about agriculture ("Hey farmer, farmer, put away your DDT now"), destruction of forests ("They took all the trees, put 'em in a tree museum etc.") etc.

And there's the Beach Boys "Don't Go Near the Water", from the "Sunflower" album.

But perhaps Joni Mitchell and The Beach Bouys wouldn't really be appreciated by young kids today.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Peewee,

Well, one of my favorite Radiohead songs, "Idioteque," is partly about global warming. Not sure if that's the kind of music you're looking for though. It's not really what you'd call a pop song.

Also, there's a few folk songs I know that might fit the category. One is by a band called Jackopierce, and the song is "Someday You'll Understand." The other is by a guy named Brooks Williams, and it's called "Seven Sisters."

There's also a song by Gordon Lightfoot called "Big Blue" that's about a whale that's being hunted by whalers.

I'll let you know if I think of any others.

May be a bit to pre-Nirvana for Indy rock kids these days, but I recommend the Blake Babies' "Cesspool" from their album Earwig.
Marvin Gaye's "Mercy, Mercy Me (The Ecology)" may be too geezerish, but I dig it too.

R.E.M. has two songs on their "Life's Rich Pageant" album about pollution -- "Cuyahoga", and "Fall on Me"

Also, I don't know if the kids are into Marvin Gaye, but "Mercy Mercy Me" is pretty appropriate.

ooh and a whole lot of Pixies songs. "Monkey Gone To Heaven" and "Wave of Mutilation" come to mind. I'm gonna stop.

These are old but still good- Ecology Song by Stephen Stills, The Trees from Rush and of course, Tom Lehrer's classic Pollution.

Mos Def's New World Water, maybe not the type of music your looking for but it's a good song. The only enviromental rap song I ever heard.

ericg75 beat me to the punch, but REM's "Fall On Me" was a particularly pointed jab at the Reagan administration's environmental policy ("buy the sky/and sell the sky/and ask the sky/and tell the sky/don't fall on me...") with a video that reinforced the lyrics of the song.

I doubt that 18 year olds care a whit about R.E.M. though.

One that nobody mentioned:

"Blue Sky Mine" by Midnight Oil

quote:

Originally posted by philosopherEric:
I doubt that 18 year olds care a whit about R.E.M. though.

One that nobody mentioned:

"Blue Sky Mine" by Midnight Oil

If they don't care about R.E.M., they're definitely not caring about Midnight Oil.

Perfect World - Indigo Girls.

Its actualy a good song that talks about how we are all responsible for this one world that we share.

We get to be a ripple in the water/
We get to be a rock that is thrown/
We get to be a boy on the bridge/
Standing over the reservoir

I'm not sure, but for some reason "Nothing But Flowers" by Talking Heads strikes me as somehow environmental. Anyone else?

Err...probably not remotely what you're looking for, but...

Tool - Aenema.

It's about environmental problems. It's just..pro-environmental problems.

I'd go with the Marvin Gaye, a true classic that transcends time (even for those uppity youngsters), and old school REM I think is relatively respected and very appropriate.
I'll add a John Anderson's Seminole Wind and Merle Haggard's Rainbow Stew for the country inclined kids. The Postal Service has a line or two about global warming in Sleeping In and maybe Grandaddy's Nature Anthem as well as Jamiroquia's Emergency on Planet Earth and Modest Mouse's Convenient Parking . Also might hit an appropriate note with Way of the Buffalo by Railroad Earth, Excuse me Mr. by the amazing Ben Harper -- And of course some personal favorites (although perhaps not as readily embraced by youthful exuberance) - Bruce Cockburn's If a Tree Falls, John Prine's Paradise, and for a little reggae flavor Steel Pulse's Earth Crisis .

Freddy Clarke band has a great song called wobbly world (global warming) and the CEO's own the ozone titled remember the O's he can be emailed at Freddy@freddyclarke.com